


Indulgence

by Sky_kiss



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Even that isn't a guarantee, F/M, Or: Seteth discovers that smooching Manuela is the best way to shut her up, Post-Canon, Songstress and Saint, Uptight love Messy, or: two dumb adults smooch in a bar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 02:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20220616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky_kiss/pseuds/Sky_kiss
Summary: Six months prior, Manuela had written to him of her school. She had asked him to visit. So he’d visited. She’d asked if he hadn’t considered a position teaching again and...well, he would not deny enjoying her company. So he’d stayed.  Concession after concession, each of which had led them to this moment...





	Indulgence

**Author's Note:**

> These two just had...the most precious support chain. It was...just a romance. Manuela might be my wife and I might love her with M!Byleth but...also love her with Seteth. Plus, my girl just deserves more content. Have some fluffy nonsense.

He should not indulge her. 

It felt as if all he’d done these past few months was indulge her. 

It was a simple truth he understood all too well. Humans were pack animals. And, not unlike the wolf or the lion, Manuela quite enjoyed testing her place in that pack. Seteth pressed two fingers to his temple. He could feel a headache coming on.

Six months prior, Manuela had written to him of her school. She had asked him to visit. So he’d visited. She’d asked if he hadn’t considered a position teaching again and...well, he would not deny enjoying her company. So he’d stayed. Concession after concession, each of which had led them to this moment...

She had invited him to drink. It was nothing new; she’d extended the same invitation to him half a dozen times over the course of their relationship. Only tonight, fool that he was, he had accepted. Manuela had finished three glasses of wine in the time it had taken him to nurse _one_. To say the effects of enebriation were beginning to manifest was...an understatement. The former songstress was blessed (or cursed) with a purely natural physicality. It was as natural to her as it was foreign to him.

Alcohol only served to exacerbate the issue.

He had stared at her, struck quite dumb, as she reached out to trace the line of his cheek. Her fingers splayed back into his hair, well manicured nails scraping across his scalp. Then her eyes had widened. The entirety of her expression had brightened. She’d practically tumbled off her stool to get a better look at her discovery.

“Why, Seteth...your _ears_.” 

She did not speak those four words so much as she sang them, a drawn out cooing noise. Manuela beamed at him, lower lip caught firmly between her teeth. An extraneous detail, truly, as she made no effort to conceal either her mischief or her inexplicable pleasure. 

Seteth straightened, sitting up to the full extent of his height. He cleared his throat, fingers curling around her wrist to lead her touch _away_from his face. While he was not ashamed of the delicate points, he found they unnerved the general populace. More than that, they were a threat. A hint of his and, by extension, Flayn’s true heritage. “That is quite enough, Manuela.” 

“Oh, lighten up. They’re charming.” 

“Manuela…” 

“_Exotic_ even.” She wiggled her fingers. From Manuela it was a thoughtlessly artful gesture, not unlike a maestro conducting an orchestra. He grumbled. The end result was much as it ever was: Manuela laughed, a high, self satisfied sound. The former songstress took his hand. “You’re so _prickly_. It’s a wonder you’re able to spend your days instructing hormonal teenagers.” 

“They are afraid of me.” 

“If only they knew the truth. How easy it is to make the great, stoic, Seteth _blush_.” 

He sighed again. Alcohol had precious little effect on him. He finished the remainder of his drink anyway. Perhaps the goddess would show some semblance of mercy. “They wouldn’t believe you if you told them.” 

“Perhaps.” She rested her chin the palm of her hand, singularly attractive despite (or because of) her mischief. His wife’s eyes had been the same striking shade of green as Flayn’s. It was a favorite of his. He found himself appreciating the color of Manuela’s eyes all the same. They were a warm shade of brown, nearer to honey than anything else. “But that’s alright with me. I like knowing secrets about you. Makes a girl feel special.” 

Seteth shook his head. A little voice whispered that he should reprimand her for her foolish behavior. That voice was very small, very quiet, and entirely too easy to ignore. He sighed instead, reaching out to take her hand in his own. “_Why_do I indulge you?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” She brought their joined hands to her lips. “You have _feelings_ for me.”

He snorted. “Absurd.” 

She was singularly lovely when she pouted. The wine left a hint of color in her cheeks; a fetching pink bleeding across the bridge of her nose. “You could at least _pretend_. You'll give me a complex."

There was some truth to it, he supposed. Beneath all that swaggering confidence she painted on for the world, she was afraid. Deeply, deeply, afraid of her loneliness. Of being alone. 

Seteth had been alone for centuries. He would not have wished that state upon the worst of his enemies. Certainly not a...a friend. "My apologies. That was…ungentlemanly of me." 

"It was." 

She drummed her fingers against her empty glass. Waiting. Expectant. He chuckled. Ever the songstress, Manuela expected a more theatrical apology. Not because she needed it; he knew her well enough to understand she processed genuine hurt far more shyly. But because it amused her. She liked pushing him from his comfort zone; she liked teasing him and seeing him more…

…'alive' was the word she'd used. 

She always managed to elicit such a reaction. Even at the academy, she had brought a liveliness to his days. He had not _enjoyed_ lecturing her for her slovenly behavior (per say) but...well, he had not disliked it either. She was a friend and confident and…

...quite charming when she stopped trying to play the seductress. Seteth reached out, fingers curling around the back of her neck. He had the distinct pleasure of watching a flood of panic cross her expression, more doe eyed and speechless than he might have expected from a former diva. 

Seteth kissed her. Nothing more than a chaste brush of the lips. He was unsurprised to find hers were soft, tinged with the wine they’d consumed and a hint of something else. A lotion or perfume with a more floral bouquet. She stiffened, both her palms moving to press against his shoulders. It took another moment for her fingers to curl in the front of his tunic, preventing him from moving away. 

“Cheat.” She mumbled. Her breath was warm against his lips and he chuckled, tilting his head just enough to drag his lips over the rise of her cheek. Manuela shivered. She was always attractive; when she was genuinely affected she was...uncommonly beautiful. “That isn’t an apology, I’ll have you know.” 

She said as much as she leaned in closer, lips finding the shell of his ear. Seteth fought the urge to chuckle, to roll his eyes at her little fixation. It _tickled_. Her tongue flicked out to trace the delicate point and he sighed. An airy sound, too low and too pleased to confuse for disappointment or frustration. “Is it not? I was under the impression you quite enjoyed being kissed.” 

“By men who want to kiss me. Not men looking to escape an argument.” Her dark eyes glittered, all mischief and still looking for a concession. Her fingers swept back through his hair; Seteth found himself leaning into the contact. “Unless..._you've_ been wanting to kiss me?” 

He shook his head, unsure if he wanted to laugh or chide her. He chose a third option. He closed the distance between them again, catching her lower lip between his teeth. “Impossible woman.” 

“It’s a simple question, dear.” 

“_Yes_.” 

“Yes, what?” He rolled his eyes. It was easier to kiss her again. At the very least, it seemed to stagger her for a moment. Manuela hummed against his lips, arms winding around him. He could feel her smile. Her good humor was...infectious. She traced his nose with her own, grinning. “Well, _I'm_ not shy. Seteth...I think I might _like_ kissing you.” 

“You think.” He smiled, nipping at her chin. “How inspirational.” 

“I’ll need a few more demonstrations before I decide. Provided you’re…” 

The age old thought occurred to him again: he should not indulge her. That thought was gone as quickly as it’d come. The truth was he quite enjoyed indulging her. Almost as much as he enjoyed kissing her.


End file.
